MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 10, Number 5, 3 February 2003. Editor/Publisher: David J. Thomas, Ph.D., Science Division, Lyon College, Batesville, AR 72503-2317, USA. dthomas@lyon.edu Contributing Editor: Julian A. Hiscox, Ph.D., School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AJ, United Kingdom. J.A.Hiscox@reading.ac.uk Marsbugs is published on a weekly to monthly basis as warranted by the number of articles and announcements. Copyright of this compilation exists with the editors, except for specific articles, in which instance copyright exists with the author/authors. While we cannot effectively copyright our mailing list, our readers would appreciate it if others would not send unsolicited e-mail using the Marsbugs mailing list. The editors do not condone "spamming" of our subscribers. Persons who have information that may be of interest to subscribers of Marsbugs should send that information to the editors. E-mail subscriptions are free, and may be obtained by contacting either of the editors. Information concerning the scope of this newsletter, subscription formats and availability of back-issues is available from the Marsbugs web page at http://welcome.to/marsbugs or http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/marsbugs/. ________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS 1) SPECIAL SECTION ON THE LOSS OF SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA By David J. Thomas 2) NASA STATEMENT ON LOSS OF COMMUNICATIONS WITH COLUMBIA NASA release 3) STATEMENT BY NASA ADMINISTRATOR SEAN O'KEEFE NASA release 03-032 4) PRESIDENT ADDRESSES NATION ON SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA TRAGEDY-- REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON THE LOSS OF SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA Office of the Press Secretary release 5) NASA ASKS FOR HELP WITH COLUMBIA INVESTIGATION NASA release 03-033 6) STS-107 REPORT #19 NASA/JSC release 7) THE MARS SOCIETY MOURNS THE COLUMBIA CREW Mars Society release 8) NASA ANNOUNCES SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION BOARD (THE GEHMAN BOARD) NASA release 03-034 9) NASA MEMORIAL SERVICE SCHEDULED AT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER NASA release 03-037 10) SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA ACCIDENT BRIEFINGS SCHEDULED NASA release 03-040 11) CHINA REGRETS COLUMBIA DISASTER, SAYS EXPLORATION SHOULD CONTINUE From Agence France-Press and SpaceDaily 12) THE SPACE AGE BORN OF THE COLD WAR IS OVER By Bruce Moomaw 13) BEYOND THE SUNSET By John Carter McKnight 14) A STATEMENT FROM THE FAMILIES OF SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA NASA release 15) SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA--INFORMATION NOTE NUMBER 1 ESA release 16) ANTS TUNNELING "LIKE CRAZY" IN SHUTTLE By Marsha Walton 17) 2003: A JPL SPACE ODYSSEY--JOIN THE JOURNEY WITH FREE LECTURES NASA/JPL release 2003-010 18) TITAN--FROM DISCOVERY TO ENCOUNTER ESA conference announcement 19) HITCH-HIKER'S GUIDE TO BIOLOGY'S SECOND DATUM From Astrobiology Magazine 20) HOW TO SORT SIGNS OF ARTIFICIAL LIFE FROM THE REAL THING By Seth Shostak 21) NASA ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE TO HOST GENERAL MEETING FEBRUARY 10-12 NASA/ARC release 03-09AR 22) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas 23) MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES NASA/JPL/ASU release 24) STARDUST STATUS REPORT NASA/JPL release ________________________________________________________________________ SPECIAL SECTION ON THE LOSS OF SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA By David J. Thomas 3 February 2003 Saturday morning, I turned on my television at 8:15 AM (Central Standard Time) and received one of the greatest shocks since the loss of Challenger or the destruction of the World Trade Center--communications were lost with Columbia, and large pieces of debris were being tracked re-entering the atmosphere over Texas. I didn't need to wait for confirmation from NASA; I knew that we had lost Columbia with all aboard. Most of my family, friends and neighbors hadn't heard the bad news yet. As the day progressed, millions of people in the U.S. and around the world listened to the statements made by NASA director O'Keefe and President Bush, and shared in the loss of the shuttle and crew. Although I didn't know any of the astronauts, my heartfelt sympathies went out to the family and friends of the seven astronauts, and I shared their grief. Unfortunately, some will use this time of national and international mourning to their advantage. This disaster will provide impetus to those who oppose our human space program--saying that it wastes time, resources and human lives. However, I believe that the human exploration of space is a worthwhile and even an essential endeavor. We have lost some intrepid explorers, but the exploration must continue. This issue of Marsbugs is dedicated not only to the crew of Columbia, but to all who have given their lives in pursuit of the Final Frontier. As one might expect, news agencies around the world have produced articles on this subject. In addition to the articles included in this issue of Marsbugs, other articles of interest are available at: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/shuttledisaster_subindex.htm l http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/GoodMorningAmerica/Shuttle_FamilyReax 030203.html http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20030203_770.html http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/shuttle_remains030203.h tml http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20030203_201.html http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/shuttle030202_israel.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2716369.stm http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/homepage/int/news/h2/- /news/1/hi/world/americas/2721913.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2720631.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2720125.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2720445.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2717239.stm http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/01/columbia/main538865.shtml http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/02/columbia/main539033.shtml http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/03/60minutes/rooney/main539097.sh tml http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/03/columbia/main539079.shtml http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/02/60minutes/main539044.shtml http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/03/columbia/main539056.shtml http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/02/03/sprj.colu.shuttle/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/02/03/shuttle.wrapup/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/02/03/shuttle.debris/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/02/shuttle.memorials/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/02/03/sprj.colu.shuttle.students.ap/in dex.html http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/02/03/sprj.colu.bush.budget.nasa.reu t/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/02/02/shuttle.childrens.fund.ap/index .html http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/02/02/shuttle.ramon.family.ap/index.h tml http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77384,00.html http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77382,00.html http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77351,00.html http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77414,00.html http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77308,00.html http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77254,00.html http://www.msnbc.com/news/867336.asp?0cv=CA01 http://www.msnbc.com/news/867873.asp?0cv=CB20 http://www.msnbc.com/news/867926.asp?0cv=CB20 http://www.msnbc.com/news/867888.asp?0cv=CB20 http://www.msnbc.com/news/868012.asp?0cv=CB20 http://www.msnbc.com/news/867846.asp?0cv=CB20 http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/news/20030203.news.01.ram http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/02/national/02SHUT.html?th http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/03/national/03SHUT.html?th http://www.space.com/shuttlemissions/ http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts107_mission_stories.html http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts107_update_030201.html http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts107_bios.html http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030203000506.po94ibj9.html http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030203011526.me7qcpa9.html http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030203024606.uehyh22k.html http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030203010444.753n209d.html http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030202235531.8mzb9246.html http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030201232216.rnp34em5.html http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030202084210.y9712m23.html http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030202203147.7mjtazkt.html http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030202201140.kebnl223.html http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030202200552.5jqv45l3.html http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030202194921.evy8p8ed.html http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030202201520.a0qode13.html http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/status.html http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030202leftwing/ http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030201columbia/launchincident.h tml http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030201columbia/crew.html http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030201columbia/bush.html http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030201columbia/okeefe.html http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030201columbia/radarimage.html If anyone has comments regarding specific articles, please send them to the articles' authors. However, the editors would welcome articles commenting on the loss of Columbia and the future of human space exploration. ________________________________________________________________________ NASA STATEMENT ON LOSS OF COMMUNICATIONS WITH COLUMBIA NASA release 1 February 2003 A Space Shuttle contingency has been declared in Mission Control, Houston, as a result of the loss of communication with the Space Shuttle Columbia at approximately 9:00 AM EST Saturday as it descended toward a landing at the Kennedy Space Center, FL. It was scheduled to touchdown at 9:16 AM EST. Communication and tracking of the shuttle was lost at 9:00 AM EST at an altitude of about 203,000 feet in the area above north central Texas. At the time communications were lost. The shuttle was traveling approximately 12,500 miles per hour (Mach 18). No communication and tracking information were received in Mission Control after that time. Search and rescue teams in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and in portions of East Texas have been alerted. Any debris that is located in the area that may be related to the Space Shuttle contingency should be avoided and may be hazardous as a result of toxic propellants used aboard the shuttle. The location of any possible debris should immediately be reported to local authorities. Flight controllers in Mission Control have secured all information, notes and data pertinent to today's entry and landing by Space Shuttle Columbia and continue to methodically proceed through contingency plans. ________________________________________________________________________ STATEMENT BY NASA ADMINISTRATOR SEAN O'KEEFE NASA release 03-032 1 February 2003 "This is indeed a tragic day for the NASA family, for the families of the astronauts who flew on STS-107, and likewise is tragic for the Nation. Immediately upon indication of a loss of communications from STS-107, at a little after 9:00 AM this morning, we began our contingency plan to preserve all the information relative to the flight activities. I immediately advised the President and the Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, at the point after landing was due to have occurred at 9:16 AM, and spoke to them very briefly to advise them that we had lost contact with the Shuttle orbiter, Columbia, and STS-107 crew. They offered, the President specifically offered, full and immediate support to determine the appropriate steps to be taken. We then spent the next hour and a half working through the details and information of what we have received and Bill Readdy, Associate Administrator for the NASA Office of Space Flight, will walk you through the specifics of those operational and technical issues. We met with the family members of the astronauts who were here at the Kennedy Space Center and are soon to be departing back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The President has called and spoken to the family members to express our deepest national regrets. We have assured them that we will begin the process immediately to recover their loved ones and understand the cause of this tragedy. We have no indication that the mishap was caused by anything or anyone on the ground. We assembled a Mishap Investigation Team at a point past the stage that the orbiter was to have landed here at Kennedy Space Center a little after 9:30. That team, in turn, is coordinating on a regular basis on all the facts that are pertaining to this from the Johnson Space Center with help from a Rapid Response Team from here at the Kennedy Space Center, as well participants from the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In addition to these internal efforts, we have appointed a Mishap Investigation Board, an external group of people who are independent from NASA who will be charged with the responsibility to look at all the information that was immediately locked down right after the absence of communications. Each of these individuals are Safety and Mission Assurance related officials in other departments of the Federal government, from the Air Force, the Navy, the Department of Transportation, and across the federal expanse. This Investigation Team will be chaired by an individual who is external to the federal agencies and will have the responsibility to coordinate all the information from an external view. So we'll be conducting both the internal activity as well as the external review immediately to ascertain the causes and circumstances under which this tragedy occurred. We have pulled together all the federal agencies and local governments as well. I have been in discussion several times this morning with Secretary Tom Ridge. The effort is under way to coordinate an understanding of exactly where the orbiter path had taken it from West Texas towards the Kennedy Space Center here in Florida and to make sure that the material on the ground is secured so that the investigation can begin promptly. We would urge people who believe they have found any material to stay away from it and to please contact local officials. The local first responder groups for emergency services have been authorized and directed by Secretary Tom Ridge to assist in any way. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is coordinating that effort on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security. I was here this morning with the families of the astronauts and their friends. It started out as a pretty happy morning, as we awaited the landing of STS-107. We had highly anticipated their return because we couldn't wait to congratulate them for their extraordinary performance and their excellent effort on this very important science mission. They dedicated their lives to pushing scientific challenges for all of us here on Earth. They dedicated themselves to that objective and did it with a happy heart, willingly and with great enthusiasm. The loss of this valued crew is something we will never be able to get over. We have assured the families that we will do everything, everything we can possibly do to guarantee that we work our way through this horrific tragedy. We ask the members of the media to honor that too. Please respect their privacy and please understand the tragedy that they are going through at this time. We will help the media assure that this will be the case as well. We trust the prayers of the Nation will be with them and with their families. A more courageous group of people you could not have hoped to know- an extraordinary group of astronauts who gave their lives-and the families of these crewmembers. They knew exactly the risks. And never, ever did we want to see a circumstance in which this could happen. We diligently dedicate ourselves every single day to assuring these things don't occur. And when they do we have to act responsibly, accountably and that is exactly what we will do." Additional information is available at http://www.nasa.gov. Contact: Robert Mirelson NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1600 ________________________________________________________________________ PRESIDENT ADDRESSES NATION ON SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA TRAGEDY--REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON THE LOSS OF SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA Office of the Press Secretary release 1 February 2003 From the Cabinet Room, President George W. Bush: "My fellow Americans, this day has brought terrible news and great sadness to our country. At 9:00 AM this morning, Mission Control in Houston lost contact with our Space Shuttle Columbia. A short time later, debris was seen falling from the skies above Texas. The Columbia is lost; there are no survivors. On board was a crew of seven: Colonel Rick Husband; Lt. Colonel Michael Anderson; Commander Laurel Clark; Captain David Brown; Commander William McCool; Dr. Kalpana Chawla; and Ilan Ramon, a Colonel in the Israeli Air Force. These men and women assumed great risk in the service to all humanity. In an age when space flight has come to seem almost routine, it is easy to overlook the dangers of travel by rocket, and the difficulties of navigating the fierce outer atmosphere of the Earth. These astronauts knew the dangers, and they faced them willingly, knowing they had a high and noble purpose in life. Because of their courage and daring and idealism, we will miss them all the more. All Americans today are thinking, as well, of the families of these men and women who have been given this sudden shock and grief. You're not alone. Our entire nation grieves with you. And those you loved will always have the respect and gratitude of this country. The cause in which they died will continue. Mankind is led into the darkness beyond our world by the inspiration of discovery and the longing to understand. Our journey into space will go on. In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet farther than we can see there is comfort and hope. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, 'Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.' The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home. May God bless the grieving families, and may God continue to bless America." Video and audio of the remark are available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030201-2.html ________________________________________________________________________ NASA ASKS FOR HELP WITH COLUMBIA INVESTIGATION NASA release 03-033 1 February 2003 NASA has established a telephone hotline and electronic mail address for the public to use for reporting information that may help investigators studying today's Space Shuttle mishap. Anyone who discovers debris from the accident or who has film or video evidence that may be of value to the investigation team is urged to use these contacts. Please avoid contact with any debris, because it may be hazardous as a result of toxic propellants aboard the Shuttle. Telephone reports should be directed to 281-483-3388. Text reports and images should be e-mailed to nasamitimages@jsc.nasa.gov. The e-mail address is columbiaimages@nasa.gov. All debris is U.S. Government property and is critical to the investigation of the mishap. All debris from the accident is to be left alone and reported to Government authorities. Unauthorized persons found in possession of accident debris will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Contacts: Robert Mirelson NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1600 Eileen Hawley NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX Phone: 281-483-5111 ________________________________________________________________________ STS-107 REPORT #19 NASA/JSC release 1 February 2003 The Space Shuttle Columbia and its seven astronauts were lost today when the vehicle broke up over north central Texas during its reentry from orbit. Communications were lost with Columbia and its crew at around 8:00 AM CST, while the shuttle was traveling about 18 times the speed of sound at an altitude of 207,000 feet. Columbia was 16 minutes from landing at the Kennedy Space Center when flight controllers at Mission Control lost contact with the vehicle. Columbia was returning from a 16-day scientific research mission, its 28th flight, which launched on January 16. Aboard Columbia were Commander Rick Husband, completing his second flight, Pilot William McCool, wrapping up his first mission, Mission Specialists Dave Brown, also completing his first mission, Kalpana Chawla, on her second flight, Laurel Clark, a first-time space traveler, Payload Commander Mike Anderson, ending his second flight, and Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon of the Israel Space Agency, on his first flight. Prior to the loss of communications with Columbia, the shuttle's return to Earth appeared perfectly normal. After assessing some wispy fog near the shuttle's three-mile long landing strip at KSC before dawn, Entry Flight Director Leroy Cain gave approval for the firing of the shuttle's braking rockets to begin its descent from orbit. Husband and McCool began the deorbit burn to allow Columbia to slip out of orbit at 7:15 AM CST. There was no indication of anything abnormal with Columbia's reentry until the last communications between Mission Control and the crew. At Columbia's intended landing site, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and Associate Administrator for Space Flight William Readdy met with the families of the astronauts to offer their condolences, vowed to uncover the cause of the accident and press ahead with the Shuttle program. "This is indeed a tragic day for the NASA family, for the families of the astronauts who flew on STS-107, and likewise is tragic for the nation," said O'Keefe. "We have no indication that the mishap was caused by anything or anyone on the ground," O'Keefe added. In a briefing, Chief Flight Director Milt Heflin said that around 7:53 AM CST, just minutes before communications were lost with Columbia, flight controllers detected indications of a loss of hydraulic system temperature measurements associated with Columbia's left wing, followed three minutes later by an increase in temperatures on the left main gear tires and brakes. At 7:58 AM, flight controllers noted a loss of bondline temperature sensor data in the area of the left wing followed a minute later by a loss of data on tire temperatures and pressures for the left inboard and outboard tires. After several attempts to try to contact Columbia, Cain declared a contingency, whereby flight controllers began preserving documentation regarding the entry phase of the flight. Recovery forces fanned out from Texas to Louisiana to try to recover debris that will be pertinent to the mishap investigation. Space Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore said several teams have been organized to gather data for analysis and will report to an external investigation board that was appointed by Administrator O'Keefe. Dittemore added that no specific orbiter debris or crew remains have been positively identified at this time, and that there is no leading theory for the cause of the accident. Dittemore said the processing of other shuttles at the Kennedy Space Center for future launches has been temporarily halted to enable engineers to review data regarding vehicle processing and to focus attention on capturing all pertinent information involving Columbia's pre-launch preparations. NASA managers will be meeting on a regular basis to begin reviewing data associated with Columbia's investigation. The next status briefing from the Johnson Space Center is tentatively scheduled from the Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX at 12:00 PM CST Sunday. It will be seen on NASA Television with two-way question and answer capability for reporters from NASA centers. NASA TV can be found on AMC-2, Transponder 9C, vertical polarization at 85 degrees West longitude, 3880 MHz, with audio at 6.8 MHz. On the International Space Station, Expedition 6 Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit were informed of the loss of Columbia and its crew shortly after a Russian Progress resupply vehicle undocked from the ISS. Filled with discarded items no longer needed on the ISS, the Progress was commanded to deorbit by Russian flight controllers and reentered the Earth's atmosphere. A new Progress cargo ship will be launched Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:59 AM CST (1259 GMT) filled with supplies for the Expedition 6 crew. It is scheduled to dock to the ISS Tuesday morning. ISS program officials say, if necessary, the current resident crew could remain in orbit until late June with the supplies being ferried to the station on the new Progress. ________________________________________________________________________ THE MARS SOCIETY MOURNS THE COLUMBIA CREW Mars Society release 1 February 2003 The members of the Mars Society join together in grief over the loss of the seven member crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia this morning. While space travel has become so common that dozens of missions are performed without anything but the most casual mention in the press, such solemn moments remind us that our astronauts are heroes and that such efforts are not without risk. But humankind has faced and overcome great risks to explore and understand our world. The greatest journeys of discovery now lie in the exploration of our solar system. It is a task in which we can bring together all of mankind to work for the betterment of humanity and our understanding of the universe. Tragically, Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut, was among the members. May his example of heroism spur the youth of Israel, and the world, to continue to aspire toward the global effort of space exploration. The crew of the Columbia, as that of Challenger and Apollo 1 before them, gave their lives for the cause of opening the solar system to humanity. In the coming months, that cause will be put to the test, as those who do not honor it seek to use this tragedy to put it to an end. This must not be allowed to occur. In memory of Shuttle commander Rick D. Husband, Pilot William C. McCool, Payload Commander Michael P. Anderson, Mission Specialists David M. Brown,Kalpana Chawla and Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon, let us therefore resolve that the cause for which they gave their last full measure of devotion shall not be allowed to fail. In Israel, it is sometimes the practice to plant trees in memory of loved ones lost. Let us honor Columbia's crew by resolving today not to rest in our efforts until seven trees in their memory shall be planted on Mars. From death there shall come life, and no life given shall be given in vain. The Mars Society offers its condolences to the families and friends of Columbia's crew. For further information about the Mars Society, visit our web site at www.marssociety.org, or contact info@marssociety.org. ________________________________________________________________________ NASA ANNOUNCES SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION BOARD (THE GEHMAN BOARD) NASA release 03-034 2 February 2003 NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe today announced the members of the Space Shuttle Mishap Interagency Investigation Board, which will provide an independent review of the events and activities that led up to the tragic loss of the seven astronauts Saturday on board the Space Shuttle Columbia. The board's first meeting is scheduled for tomorrow at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Retired U.S. Navy Admiral Harold W. Gehman, Jr., who co-chaired the independent commission that investigated the attack on the U.S.S. Cole in Aden, Yemen, 12 October 2000, and once served as the commander-in- chief of U.S. Joint Forces Command, will chair the panel. "While the NASA family and the entire world mourn the loss of our colleagues, we have a responsibility to quickly move forward with an external assessment to determine exactly what happened and why," said Administrator O'Keefe. "We're honored to have such a distinguished panel of experts, led by Admiral Gehman." Other members of the investigative board include: * Rear Admiral Stephen Turcotte, Commander, U.S. Naval Safety Center, Norfolk, VA. * Major General John L. Barry, Director, Plans and Programs, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH. * Major General Kenneth W. Hess, Commander, U.S. Air Force Chief of Safety, Kirtland Air Force Base, NM. * Dr. James N. Hallock, Aviation Safety Division Chief, U.S. Department of Transportation, Cambridge, MA. * Steven B. Wallace, Director of Accident Investigation, Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC. * Brigadier General Duane Deal, Commander 21st Space Wing, Peterson Air Foce Base, CO. Several senior NASA leaders also will be a part of the panel, including: * G. Scott Hubbard, Director, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. * Bryan D. O'Connor, NASA Associate Administrator and former astronaut, Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, Headquarters, will serve as ex- officio member. * Theron Bradley, Jr., NASA Chief Engineer, NASA Headquarters, Washington, will be executive secretary. "We need to be responsible, accountable, and extremely thorough in this investigation," added Administrator O'Keefe. "This panel is charged with a most difficult task, but I am confident in their ability, their integrity, and their dedication to doing what's right. Their findings will help push America's space program successfully into the future." "Currently, NASA is beginning an internal investigation, drawing on the extensive expertise throughout the agency. Public officials for NASA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other federal, state, and local entities are coordinating talents to help find the cause of this tragedy," concluded Administrator O'Keefe. Additional information about the investigation and the STS-107 mission is available on the internet at http://www.nasa.gov and http://spaceflight.nasa.gov. Contact: Glenn Mahone/Bob Jacobs NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1898 or -1600 ________________________________________________________________________ NASA MEMORIAL SERVICE SCHEDULED AT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER NASA release 03-037 2 February 2003 The President and Mrs. George W. Bush will join NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe Tuesday [4 February 2003] afternoon in paying tribute to the brave heroes of the Space Shuttle Columbia crew during a special memorial service at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. The ceremony to honor NASA astronauts Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael Anderson, Kalpana Chawla, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon is scheduled to begin at 12:45 PM CST in the Central Mall area behind Building One. Gates are scheduled to open at 10:00 AM. This is a private ceremony for family members, friends, and invited guests, along with NASA employees and contractors. The service will be carried live on NASA Television and available on the internet at www.nasa.gov. Media access to the memorial service will be restricted with television and still photography access provided on a pool basis. NASA Television is available on AMC-2, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees West longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical and audio is monaural at 6.8 MHz. Additional information about the STS-107 crew and the Space Shuttle Columbia is available on the internet at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov. Contacts: Glenn Mahone/Bob Jacobs NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1898 or -1600 Eileen Hawley NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX Phone: 281-83-5111 ________________________________________________________________________ SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA ACCIDENT BRIEFINGS SCHEDULED NASA release 03-040 2 February 2003 Two briefings are scheduled Monday in NASA's continuing effort to keep the public up-to-date on the latest developments involving the investigation into the tragic accident that killed the seven-member crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia. The first briefing is scheduled at NASA Headquarters Monday morning at 11:30 AM EST. A second briefing is tentatively scheduled for 4:30 PM EST from the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. Both briefings will feature questions from reporters at participating NASA centers and will be broadcast live on NASA Television. NASA TV is available on AMC-2, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees West longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical and audio is monaural at 6.8 MHz. Additional information is available on the internet at http://www.nasa.gov and http://spaceflight.nasa.gov. Contacts: Robert Mirelson NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-3580-1600 Eileen Hawley NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX Phone: 281-483-5111 ________________________________________________________________________ CHINA REGRETS COLUMBIA DISASTER, SAYS EXPLORATION SHOULD CONTINUE From Agence France-Press and SpaceDaily 2 February 2003 Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Sunday expressed condolences to US President George W. Bush over the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy, but insisted space exploration must continue. In a message to Bush, Jiang said China "deeply regrets" the disaster and the death of the Columbia's seven-member crew, the official Xinhua news agency reported. However, Jiang said he believed humanity "should continue and make further progress in space exploration despite the setback," indicating China plans to push forward with its own goal of launching a manned spaceflight. Read the full article at http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/030202061644.pv0ay4op.html. ________________________________________________________________________ THE SPACE AGE BORN OF THE COLD WAR IS OVER By Bruce Moomaw From SpaceDaily 2 February 2003 Today's appalling Shuttle tragedy proves--once again--that manned spaceflight, at this point in history, is not remotely worth either its cost or its risk of lives. I say "once again" because virtually any scientist worth his salt has been pointing out that fact routinely for decades. Any skeptic is invited to take a look at what the professional science journals regularly say on this subject. NASA has always been warped by the freakish circumstances of its early development. Read the full article at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-03e.html. ________________________________________________________________________ BEYOND THE SUNSET By John Carter McKnight From SpaceDaily 3 February 2003 In a society inured to horror, as ours is rapidly becoming, disaster invites not grief, but abstract policy analysis, jockeying for advantage, and scapegoating. Columnists have written already of the loss of irreplaceable infrastructure, of the inefficiency of crewed experiments in space. But our presence is space is not about engineering or science, but about our spirit. It is only in grief that the real meaning of Columbia's loss can be found. Saturday morning was unlike 9/11, different even from the day of Challenger's loss. The familiarity now of disaster, the comprehensible scale of this tragedy after the loss of the twin towers, made our grief sharper and more immediate. The blessed numbing of shock that sheltered us in the past is lost now in this harsher world. The horror, the rage, the tears come more quickly, more inexorably now. Some perverse trick of memory brings past pain to the fore again as well. Images of the Challenger explosion footage running endlessly on a wall of screens in a New York newsroom, Ground Zero coverage on a jury- rigged TV in a bookstore, suddenly were as immediate again as on those awful mornings. All grief is now, it seems. Read the full article at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-03f.html. ________________________________________________________________________ A STATEMENT FROM THE FAMILIES OF SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA NASA release 3 February 2003 On January 16th, we saw our loved ones launch into a brilliant, cloud-free sky. Their hearts were full of enthusiasm, pride in country, faith in their God, and a willingness to accept risk in the pursuit of knowledge-knowledge that might improve the quality of life for all mankind. Columbia's 16-day mission of scientific discovery was a great success, cut short by mere minutes-yet it will live on forever in our memories. We want to thank the NASA family and people from around the world for their incredible outpouring of love and support. Although we grieve deeply, as do the families of Apollo 1 and Challenger before us, the bold exploration of space must go on. Once the root cause of this tragedy is found and corrected, the legacy of Columbia must carry on-for the benefit of our children and yours. ________________________________________________________________________ SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA--INFORMATION NOTE NUMBER 1 ESA release 3 February 2003 At about 14:00 GMT (15:00 Central European Time), Saturday 1 February 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia was lost and seven NASA astronauts perished. They were Rick Husband, Mission Commander; William McCool, Pilot; Michael Anderson, Payload Commander; Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist; Laurel Clark, Mission Specialist; David Brown, Mission Specialist and the Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, Payload Specialist. The Director General, Antonio Rodotà, and the Director of Human Spaceflight Jörg Feustel-Büechl, have expressed ESA's condolences to the NASA Administrator and other senior NASA officials and, through them, to the families of the astronauts. Basic mission facts Space Shuttle Columbia was launched on 16 January 2003 carrying a Spacehab module for a 16-day scientific mission (STS 107). The mission was conducted at an altitude of 274 km and an inclination of 39 degrees. This was not a mission to the International Space Station Mission; it was an autonomous Space Shuttle mission with no docking to the ISS and no crew exchange. In a nominal Shuttle re-entry scenario, the re-entry phase starts about one hour before touch down and at some 8000 km from the landing site at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. At that point the Orbiter is at an altitude of about 170 km and is traveling at about 28000 km/h. The Orbiter is put into its correct orientation and reaction control system jets are fired to start the descent. About 5 minutes later, at an altitude of about 120 km, entry into the upper atmospheric begins with an automatic sequence monitored by an on- board control system. During this phase, between altitudes of 81 and 49 km, a communications blackout occurs, when radio signals cannot penetrate the layer of ionized gas particles surrounding the spacecraft. This phase lasts about 16 minutes. The whole re-entry phase can either be flown automatically or under crew control. The re-entry of Columbia on 1 February 2003 was not nominal. At about 14:00 GMT, communications with the Space Shuttle were lost. At this time, the Orbiter was flying over Texas, about 15 minutes from landing and at about 18 times the speed of sound. It was at an altitude of 63 km, about 1400 km from the landing site at KSC. Video films show the spacecraft following a constant track and apparently slowly disintegrating. Debris is being found over a large area of East Texas and Louisiana, and is being collected. The NASA Administrator, Mr. Sean O'Keefe, has established an Interagency Mishap Investigation Board, which will provide an independent review of the events and activities that led up to the tragic loss of the seven astronauts on Space Shuttle Columbia. A statement has also been made by the Shuttle Program Manager, Mr. Ron Dittemore, addressing the possibility of damage being caused to the wing of Columbia during launch, but is not yet known if this has any bearing on the situation. All data is being safeguarded and, together with the retrieved debris, will be analyzed to determine the cause of the accident. Meanwhile the Shuttle fleet is grounded and, amongst other things, the flight of ESA astronaut Christer Fugelsang, planned for July 2003 on- board Space Shuttle Atlantis, is under review. International Space Station (ISS) There are currently three crew members on-board the ISS (Commander Kenneth Bowersox, NASA, and flight engineers Nikolai Budarin, RSA, and Donald Pettit, NASA). They were launched on 24 November 2002 on STS 113 (Endeavour) and were scheduled to return in mid-March 2003 on Shuttle Atlantis. A Russian Progress vehicle (9P) de-docked from the ISS as planned on 1 February, and a Soyuz flight with an unmanned Progress vehicle (10P) has been successfully launched on 2 February at 12:59 GMT, as planned, for a nominal refuel and logistics flight. There are sufficient supplies (food, water, fuel, etc.) on-board for several months of nominal activities. Soyuz 5S is on orbit as the station lifeboat and is planned to remain there until at least May 2003. Rosaviakosmos and NASA are currently assessing all necessary ISS and crew re-supply requirements for the coming months and will re-evaluate the manifest of the next flights of Progress (11P, planned for June 2003) and Soyuz (6S, planned for April 2003). The next crew exchange was planned to be on the March flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis. The next Soyuz flight, planned for 26 April 2003, is planned to be a taxi flight including ESA astronaut Pedro Duque. This flight is now under active review, but in the meantime Pedro Duque, as well as André Kuipers, who is scheduled to fly on Soyuz 7S in October 2003, are maintaining their training program as planned. The next several Shuttle missions to the ISS were planned to be a series of five truss/solar array assembly flights following an MPLM logistics flight, leading to the launch of Node 2 in February 2004. The effect of the Columbia tragedy on this sequence and schedule will be evaluated over the next weeks. ESA payloads on board the mission The Space Shuttle Columbia carried the Spacehab Research Double Module with seven ESA payloads with a mass of 600 kg and representing approximately 25% of the payload in the Shuttle middeck and in Spacehab. All payloads performed well during the 16-day mission. However, for the following group of four biology and protein crystallization research instruments, no scientific results will be available as no samples or electronic data can be provided to the Investigators for analysis: * Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility (APCF): included 38 experiment containers. Data were recorded on a digital tape and the scientific results consisted of the processed experiment samples. * Biobox was related to four experiments. The results of Biobox consisted of processed experiment samples. Only facility telemetry data are actually available which indicate a perfect performance of Biobox. * Biopack was related to eight experiments. Scientific results of Biopack consisted of processed experiments samples. * European Research in Space and Terrestrial Osteoporosis (ERISTO) was related to two experiments with 12 experiment samples consisting of human bone cells. ERISTO made use of the OSTEO on loan from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Again, the science results were represented by the samples themselves. For the following group of three research instruments all data are available for further scientific analysis: * Com2Plex was related to three technological experiments exploring new Loop Heat Pipe designs proposed by Industry. Telemetry data of all experiments indicated already significant improvements of heat transfer capabilities. More detailed analyses of the data will be performed in the future. * Facility for Adsorption and Surface Tension (FAST) concluded all three experiments during the flight. All information (telemetry and video data) is available for further analysis by three investigator groups. * Advanced Respiratory Monitoring System (ARMS) was related to 7 flight experiments and 1 ground experiment in pulmonary and cardio-vascular research in microgravity. All pre-flight Baseline Data Collection (BDC) information and all flight data are available in electronic form for further analysis by the Investigators. For further information, please contact: ESA Media Relations Service Phone: + 33 1 53 69 77 13 Fax: + 33 1 53 69 7690 ________________________________________________________________________ ANTS TUNNELING "LIKE CRAZY" IN SHUTTLE By Marsha Walton From CNN 25 January 2003 Average high school science class: read textbook, answer questions at the end of the chapter, take test on Friday, repeat. Fowler High School science class, Syracuse, New York: design experiment using harvester ants to be part of a space shuttle flight. Take field trips to Colorado for testing, and the Kennedy Space Center to watch launch. Enjoy international media attention during mission of shuttle Columbia. It was a long time coming, but students from this math and science magnet school now are watching their idea, their design and their ants tunneling like crazy in space. "We did this for a lot of different reasons," said 17-year old Abby Golash, now a senior at Fowler High. "It's not applied science. We're not going to find a cure for cancer, but there may be a lot of indirect results," she said. "Someday something we learned may help in an ecosystem in space, or even on another planet." Read the full article at http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/01/25/coolsc.spaceants/index.html. ________________________________________________________________________ 2003: A JPL SPACE ODYSSEY--JOIN THE JOURNEY WITH FREE LECTURES NASA/JPL release 2003-010 27 January 2003 From the oceans that govern Earth's environment to the stars that illuminate outer space, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will share a wide range of discoveries in science and space exploration with the public in a series of free lectures this year. The von Kármán Lecture Series, now in its seventh year, features monthly presentations that originate on a Thursday night from JPL and on a Friday night from Pasadena City College. The JPL lectures are also Webcast live and archived for later viewing. The JPL lectures are held at the lab's von Kármán Auditorium, 4800 Oak Grove Drive in Pasadena. Friday lectures are held at Pasadena City College's Vosloh Forum, 1570 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, CA. All lectures begin at 7:00 PM, with first-come, first-served seating. For more information, see http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures.cfm or call 818-354-0112 or e-mail lecture@www.jpl.nasa.gov. Here is the schedule. February 20, 21 - New Weather and Climate Tools for the 21st Century, Dr. Moustafa Chahine, JPL senior research scientist and science team leader for the Aqua spacecraft sounding system: The benefits of NASA's Aqua mission, which is observing Earth's weather and water cycle with unprecedented detail. March 20, 21 - The Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn, Dr. Robert Mitchell, Cassini program manager: The birth and evolution of the Cassini-Huygens four-year mission to Saturn. Cassini will arrive at Saturn in 2004. April 17, 18 - Mars Global Surveyor across the Centuries, Dr. Terry Martin, JPL research scientist, Earth and planetary atmospheres: How the Mars Global Surveyor mission contributes to future Mars exploration. May 8, 9 - Challenges in Mobility and Robotics for In Situ Science, Brian Wilcox, manager, Solar System Exploration Mobility Technology Program: The challenges of exploring extreme planetary surfaces with mobile robots. June 12, 13 - SIRTF: The Last of the Great Observatories, Dr. Dave Gallagher, project manager, and Dr. Michael Werner, project scientist: The developmental history of the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, a mission scheduled for launch in April that will study the early universe and look for planet-forming discs around other stars. July 17, 18 - Searching and Crawling: A Few JPL Research Robots, Robert Hogg, robotics engineer, JPL Autonomy and Control Section: All about "Urbie," a bathmat-sized robot designed to investigate potential human hazards, help search-and-rescue efforts and survey enemy territory. August 21, 22 - The Mars Exploration Rovers - Robotic Geologists, Peter Theisinger, JPL Mars Exploration Rover program manager: Post-landing mission plans for the Mars Exploration Rovers, twin spacecraft scheduled to launch this year and arrive at Mars in 2004. September 18, 19 - Galileo's Odyssey - The Worlds of Jupiter, Dr. Rosaly Lopes, JPL research scientist: A guide to the Galileo spacecraft's journey around Jupiter and its moons, just days before the spacecraft plunges into Jupiter. October 16, 17 - Cosmic Jets: New Building Blocks of the Universe, Dr. David Meier, JPL astrophysicist: How the mysterious, spectacular phenomenon of cosmic jets is integral to our origin and the universe's structure and evolution. November 20, 21 - Deep Space Network Challenge for 2003-2004: Tracking Dozens of Mission Critical Spacecraft Events, Speaker TBA: How the Deep Space Network plans to get through its approaching challenge to support more concurrent events of crucial magnitude than ever in its history. December 11, 12 - Pointing the Way to Exoplanetary Systems: New Initiatives in Space, Astronomy and the Legacy of the Hubble Space Telescope, Dr. John Trauger, JPL senior research scientist: How soon will we see planetary systems orbiting the stars in our nearby galactic neighborhood? JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Contact: Charli Schuler Jet Propulsion Laboratory Phone: 818-354-3965 ________________________________________________________________________ TITAN--FROM DISCOVERY TO ENCOUNTER ESA conference announcement 28 January 2003 International Conference to commemorate the 375th birthday of Christiaan Huygens, born 14 April 1629 Christiaan Huygens was one of the most respected leading European scientists in the 17th century. He was the first of what we would today call a "scientific director" of the Academie Française. One highlight in his carrier was the discovery of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, in 1655. First announcement For ESA, the highlight of 2004 and early 2005 will be the arrival of the NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens spacecraft at Saturn and the release of the Huygens probe into the atmosphere of Titan. The aim of the conference is to bring together historians and space scientists to discuss: * Christiaan Huygens, the person, the scientist, his relations with other scientists in the 17th century, like Cassini, * Descartes, Newton, etc. * Observations of Saturn and its moons since the 17th century. * The Cassini-Huygens mission and the latest observations on the way to the encounter of Titan. Dates: 13 to 17 April 2004 Location: ESTEC Conference centre Scientific Program Committee Dennis Matson (dmatson@jpl.nasa.gov) Cecille Ferrari (Cecile.Ferrari@cea.fr) Tobias Owen (owen@ifa.hawaii.edu) Fabrizio Bonoli (bonoli@bo.astro.it) Fokko Dijksterhuis (f.j.dijksterhuis@wmw.utwente.nl) Cees Grimbergen ( grimberg@doge.nl) Albert van Helden (A.VanHelden@phys.uu.nl) Athena Coustenis (Athena.Coustenis@obspm.fr) Jean Pierre Lebreton (Jean-Pierre.Lebreton@esa.int) John Zarnecki (J.C.Zarnecki@open.ac.uk) Local Organizing Committee Gonnie Elfering (Gonnie.Elfering@esa.int) Jean Pierre Lebreton (Jean-Pierre.Lebreton@esa.int) enk Olthof (Henk.Olthof@esa.int) Program The program will consist of invited papers, contributed papers, and posters. The intention is to publish the proceedings in the ESA SP series. Tuesday 13 April (PM): Opening session Invited talks Musical intermezzos Video presentation of the Cassini-Huygens mission Wednesday 14 April: Christiaan Huygens, the person, scientist and his relationships with other scientists. Invited talk Contributing talks Invited birthday lecture Thursday 15 April (AM): The Cassini-Huygens mission in historical perspective The contribution of Gerard P. Kuiper Invited talk Contributing talks Afternoon: excursion Conference dinner Friday 16 April: Recent results of Saturn/Titan observations (ground- and space-based) and theoretical studies Invited talk Contributing talks Saturday 17 April Public outreach day Amateur astronomers' observations of Saturn and Titan Conference fees 150 Euro for the entire conference covering, coffee breaks, excursions and conference dinner, conference bag, proceedings, sandwich lunch on the public outreach day. 35 Euro, students 10 Euro, for the public outreach day only, covering coffee breaks, sandwich lunch, conference bag and proceedings. Schedule 1st announcement: November 2002 Call for papers: April 2003 Deadline for paper submission: September 2003 Final Program: December 2003 Expression of interest: Please send e-mail to Henk.Olthof@esa.int See http://sci2.esa.int/huygens/conference/ for more information. ________________________________________________________________________ HITCH-HIKER'S GUIDE TO BIOLOGY'S SECOND DATUM From Astrobiology Magazine Interviews based on a Planetary Society release 29 January 2003 An international team of scientists this week joined forces onboard the space shuttle Columbia for a 16 day marathon investigating microbial function in space. Astrobiology Magazine's editors conducted interviews in the middle of the shuttle mission with two leading scientists about some of the experiments' broad goals. One objective is to investigate the hypothesis otherwise known as "panspermia"--can life survive interstellar transport? Dr. David Warmflash, M.D., is a National Astrobiology Institute Associate, NASA Johnson Space Center's Astrobiology Institute, Houston, Texas. Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ph.D., is the Planetary Society's Vice President, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, New York City and Visiting Research Scientist and Lecturer, Princeton University. Astrobiology Magazine (AM): What is your personal opinion on the panspermia hypothesis? Warmflash: First of all, so far we don't have any evidence one way or another. I suspect that the conditions for the emergence of life from non-living material occur on many planets and moons and that life originates over and over throughout the Cosmos. Panspermia probably occurs at least on a limited level spreading life out from its points of origin. One of the interesting things that we will want to investigate if we find native life on Mars is whether or not it and Earth life are actually the "same" life, meaning that they share common ancestry (we will be able to check this using molecular methods). If we find this to be the case, it will not necessarily mean that life somewhere else, even within our own solar system, say on Europa, is related to martian/Earth life. If we find life on Mars and Europa then we could find that Earth and Mars share one type of life while Europan life has a separate origin just as easily as we might find that all three share the same origin. Many scenarios are possible (though life arriving from other star systems is more problematic) although the most interesting, I think, would be the finding of life in our own Solar System, whether on Mars or elsewhere that does NOT share ancestry with that of Earth. If life emerged independently twice or more within our own tiny star system then it's probably all over the Cosmos. The important concept is that the possibilities of multiple origins of life and panspermia are not mutually exclusive. Both can and probably do occur in nature. Tyson: Panspermia remains an intriguing idea, perhaps even likely, for the spread of life among neighboring fertile planets. But before we get too excited about the idea, consider that if life is easy to make from non-life (given the right conditions and ingredients) then the panspermia is not a required condition for life, even if true. And if life is hard to make from non-life then it offers no insight into how life formed in the first place. One frustrating feature of panspermia is, if we find life on another planet, say Mars, and its identity is encoded in DNA, we will have no way to tell whether we are descendants of martians, whether they are descendants of Earthlings, or whether DNA itself is an inevitable, easy to form pre-requistite for life in the universe. AM: What kinds of effects of space on cells and DNA would you expect to see? Warmflash: The NASA Johnson Space Center Astrobiology Institute is collaborating with Eran Schenker of IAMI on three experiments in the ITA CIBX-2 package. One of these three is the panspermia experiment, sponsored by the Planetary Society. The line in the Planetary Society press release on "seeking data about the effects of space on cells and DNA" actually refers to these three experiments as a whole. In the panspermia experiment (GOBBSS), we will be using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to visualize a biofilm made of bacterial cells and extracellular organic material that we expect to form on mineral surfaces. We expect that biofilms will form both in the spaceflight conditions and ground control but that there may be differences in features of the biofilms such as thickness and/or distribution of the film on the mineral particles. SEM will not tell us anything about the DNA of the bacteria. The effects on DNA have to do with one of the other two IAMI/JSC experiments (not involving the students), this one in collaboration with scientists at Hadassah Medical and Dental Schools (Jerusalem), in which we are looking the effects of space flight on the expression of a certain gene called recombinant human Bone Morphogenic Protein (rhBMP-2) in specially engineered mesenchymal stem cells. The results will have implications for the study of osteoporosis in space and on Earth. AM: So the idea is to release bacteria (what kinds?) onto a meteor-like substrate, and look with scanning electron microscope (SEM) imagery for biofilm formation, correct? Warmflash: Correct. The material is originally from basalt rock which has been not only sterilized to kill all bacteria but subsequently treated with atomic oxygen plasma (single atoms of oxygen as opposed to molecular oxygen) which destroys all organic material on the surface of the rock which has been ground into small chips (0.5 to 1.0 mm). What is left is pure inorganic mineral, like what makes up the inorganic component of the Mars meteorites (such as ALH84001). So we are starting out with material that has no biofilm on it or anything else organic and this material is kept sterile until the shuttle reaches orbit. The experiment begins in orbit when it is exposed to a bacterial culture. We are using four different species of the genus Bifidobacteria. Bifidobacteria are a type of Gram positive obligate anaerobes that happen to be good for you if you eat them. Since we developed GOBBSS as a last minute experiment (because of a last minute opportunity), we had to choose from what was already the list of approved organisms. Since the Gram positive strains are thought to be among the most ancient of all Earth life (thought to be ancestors of the Gram negatives), we wanted to use a representative of them in the experiment and since Mars, interplanetary space, and even Earth of the past were free of oxygen, anaerobic organisms make sense. In subsequent experiments we might try various other organisms. But for now the aspect of bacteria growing on meteor-like material and in weightlessness is new and for this step the Bifidobacteria should work fine. AM: Can you suggest any place where we could find perspectives on the experimental goals or panspermia? Warmflash: This isn't something that can easily be investigated experimentally. In GOBBSS we are seeing how well bacterial adapt themselves to biofilm formation on a meteorite in weightlessness. The biofilm would be protective and finding that there are no major problems in forming them would support the idea that panspermia via meteorite is possible. But, as in the case of the studies showing that meteorites can easily travel from the surface of Mars to the surface of Earth without getting too hot in their interior, it will not prove that pansperimia happened in the case of Earth. The way to do that would be bring back living samples from Mars and find that they are distant relatives of Earth life, more distant than the relation between the most distantly related Earth taxa but still using DNA and operating according to the same or very similar genetic code (the genetic code is the language while DNA is the alphabet) as those of Earth. In addition to Dr. Eran Schenker of the Israeli Aerospace Medical Institute, other scientists advising on the experiment include Palestinians Johnny Younis of Poria University Hospital, Nazareth, Dr. Ahmad Tibi, physician and Arab member of the Israeli Knesset; and Dr. David McKay of NASA Johnson Space Center. Dr. David Warmflash helped the students design the experiment and was responsible for bringing it to The Planetary Society as a peaceful science initiative. Read the original article at http://www.astrobio.net/news/article367.html. ________________________________________________________________________ HOW TO SORT SIGNS OF ARTIFICIAL LIFE FROM THE REAL THING By Seth Shostak From Space.com 30 January 2003 Picture Jodie Foster [Contact], her eyes closed and a mildly bored look on her face. She's wearing earphones and listening to the dull roar of the cosmos. Now imagine Jodie 20 seconds later, when she hears something sounding like an unpleasant accident in the Boston Pops' percussion section. Jodie knows she's scored big: the aliens are on the air. Still, how can she be sure she's picked up intelligence, and not just the cosmic gurgle of a completely natural object? How can she know she's not merely harkening to the ticking beat of a pulsar, the whoosh of a quasar, or perhaps the lasing bray of a molecular gas cloud? Because the signal sounds artificial, that's how. But what does that mean? In a universe awash in electromagnetic radiation--filled with light and radio from a slew of objects that either emit or transmit--how do we recognize a signal that's produced by intelligence? How do we define "artificial"? Read the full article at http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_shostak_artificial_030130.html. ________________________________________________________________________ NASA ASTROBIOLOGY INSTITUTE TO HOST GENERAL MEETING FEBRUARY 10-12 NASA/ARC release 03-09AR 30 January 2003 Nearly 500 scientists from around the world will meet in early February to discuss the latest research on the origin, distribution and future of life in the universe at the 2003 general meeting of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) to be held at Arizona State University. The goal of the meeting, which celebrates the NAI's first five years of research and discovery, is to encompass all aspects of NAI's mission. The NAI mission includes generating scientific results and new directions, developing collaborations, furthering the use of its technology infrastructure, strengthening its contribution to NASA missions, fostering the next generation of astrobiologists and advancing its education and outreach efforts. "At the NAI, we ask universal questions of science on a universal scale," said NAI Acting Director Dr. Rosalind Grymes. "These aspects of NAI, and of astrobiology itself, are reflected in the theme selected for this year's conference, 'Living Links through Time and Space: Meeting the Challenges of Interdisciplinary Science'," she said. "Arizona State University is pleased to host the 2003 general meeting of the NASA Astrobiology Institute," said astrobiologist Jack Farmer, principal investigator of the institute's lead team at ASU, an NAI charter member and the program organizing committee's co-chair. "Though the nature of the science of astrobiology is highly collaborative on a day-to-day basis, it's a rare opportunity to be able to meet face-to- face with nearly 500 of our colleagues from around the world and share research at the leading edge of this dynamic field." Highlights of the conference include a public lecture on February 11 at 7:30 PM by Dr. Antonio Lazcano, president of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life (ISSOL), who is based at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). Also featured will be a closing lecture on February 12 at 5:30 PM by Dr. Donald Johanson, one of the world's leading paleoanthropologists. In 1974 in Ethopia, Johanson discovered a partial skeleton of a female "ustralopithecine", a hominid fossil, which became known as Lucy, our oldest, most complete human ancestor. A series of plenary lectures will include presentations by Dr. Christopher Chyba of the Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, and Dr. Alan Dressler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, who will discuss "Life Beyond the Solar System: If, Where, When and How?" More than 300 oral and poster presentations also are scheduled, which span the breadth of astrobiology. In addition, special research sessions have been organized in the areas of: * Astrobiological Perspectives in Exploring the Solar System * Evolutionary Genomics * Searching for Life outside the Solar System * Life in Extreme Environments * Advances in Ecological Genomics * Early Biosphere Evolution Editors and news directors are invited to attend the NASA Astrobiology Institute 2003 general meeting on February 10-12 from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM daily at Arizona State University in Tempe (ASU). No registration fee is required, but all members of the news media must check in at the press room in order to receive their badges. The press room is located on the second level of the ASU Memorial Union in the Gila Room. To register, news media should visit http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/institute/general_meeting_2003/ and click on "press information" and "registration". A meeting schedule and abstracts also are available at this site. The NASA Astrobiology Institute is composed of over 700 researchers located at more than 130 research institutions across the United States. Its central offices are located at NASA Ames Research Center, in the heart of Silicon Valley, California. Additional information about the NAI can be found at its web site, http://nai.arc.nasa.gov. Contact: Kathleen M. Burton Public Affairs Officer, Astrobiology & Space Science NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA 94035 Phone: 650-604-1731 Fax: 650-604-3990 E-mail: Kathleen.M.Burton@nasa.gov ________________________________________________________________________ NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology.html 3 February 2003 Astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation articles http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_articles1. html Planetary Society, 2003. Hitch-hiker's guide to biology's second datum. Astrobiology Magazine. Human space exploration and microgravity effects articles http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_articles3. html M. Walton, 2003. Ants tunneling "like crazy" in shuttle. CNN. Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) articles http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_articles4. html S. Shostak, 2003. How to sort signs of artificial life from the real thing. Space.com. ________________________________________________________________________ MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES NASA/JPL/ASU release 27-31 January 2003 Elysium Planitia (Released 27 January 2003) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20030127a.html Terra Tyrrhena (Released 28 January 2003) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20030128a.html Crater Rim (Released 29 January 2003) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20030129a.html Nilosyrtis Mensae (Released 30 January 2003 http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20030130a.html Mamers Valles (Released 31 January 2003) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20030131a.html All of the THEMIS images are archived at http://themis.la.asu.edu/latest.html. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. ________________________________________________________________________ STARDUST STATUS REPORT NASA/JPL release 31 January 2003 Telemetry downlinked from the spacecraft this past week indicates Stardust continues to be healthy and that all subsystems were running normally. This past week, the Stardust flight team had use of the antennas of JPL's Deep Space Network on four occasions. Due to some minor communication snags in the Deep Space Network, images of the Pleiades star cluster taken by Stardust's navigation camera were not downloaded as scheduled. These images will remain onboard the spacecraft until they can be downloaded at a later date. The Pleiades images will be used to evaluate performance of the spacecraft's periscope. The Stardust team continues to benefit from the successful November 4, 2002, flyby of asteroid Annefrank. The flyby was used as an engineering test of the ground and spacecraft operations for the Comet Wild 2 encounter (336 days from now). If not for Annefrank, much of Stardust's operational readiness testing for comet encounter would have relied on time-consuming computer simulations. With less effort now required to prepare for Comet Wild 2 because of the success at Annefrank, the team is now looking beyond Comet Wild 2, reviewing plans and testing systems needed for Earth return in January of 2006. For more information on the Stardust mission--the first ever comet sample-return mission--please visit the Stardust home page at http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov. ________________________________________________________________________ End Marsbugs, Volume 10, Number 5.